Thursday, 18 December 2014

12 Days of Khyron - Day 9 The Pod Swarm

Today I am going to showcase my 450 points of Zentraedi assembled and painted from the Showdown level pledge that I received from Palladium's kickstarter. It took me 3 weeks to paint (along side my 450 points of UEDF) during which I watched the entire Robotech Macross saga about 3 times.

The army totals at:

42 tactical pods

6 light artillery

2 heavy artillery pods

2 Quel-Regult recon pods

2 glaugs

A typical 450 point army:

Attrition Squadron (70 pts)

Light Artillery Support Squad (25 pts)

Attrition Squadron (70 pts)

Light Artillery Support Squad (25 pts)

Attack Squadron (80 pts)

Heavy Artillery Support Squad (40 pts)

Quel-Regult Recon Pod (15 pts)

Attack Squadron (80 pts)

Light Artillery Support Squad (25 pts)

Quel-Regult Recon Pod (15 pts)

That leaves 5 points for a character like Grell. Drop a Quel-Regult and I can add Khyron for 10 points.

Pod Swarm Tactics:

So how do I plan to use my army? Well there are a few things that a Pod Swarm has going for it.

Close Formation: Keeping your pods within 2" of each other will first give you a +1 bonus to strike at ranged combat if the mecha's gunnery attribute is less than the total number of mecha in the close formation. This is particularly good for Regults with their pathetic 1 Gunnery, but also for Light Artillery Pods firing missile volleys. Secondly, when mecha in a close formation are attacked, they can shield each other allowing you to split the damage between the mecha hit and another single mecha in the formation. Mecha can only shield another mecha once per turn. Burying your artillery pods in a swarm of Regults will keep them alive. The down side is that mecha with blast weapons like the Phalanx and Monster can tear apart close formations.

Quel-Regult Recon Pods: The Advanced Reconnaissance Suite will give all friendly mecha within 12" of the Quel-Regult a +1 to strike at a cost of 2 command points. This is a no-brainer folks. Combined with a +1 Close Formation bonus and suddenly your pods are becoming very accurate. When your Quel-Regult gets within 24" of the enemy, switch to the Electronic Attack Suite for 1 command point and one enemy mecha within 24" of the recon pod will suffer a -1 penalty to strike at ranged combat. Position these pods in a way that multiple squadrons can benefit from them.

Zentraedi Armada: When Regult pods are destroyed within 8" and line of site of a Glaug from the same squadron, they can be set aside until the beginning of the next turn, when they can be brought back into action at a cost of 1 command point per squadron with a Glaug that lost Regults from it's squadron (that's a mouth full, read the Zentraedi Armada faction card for further details).

Artillery Pods: Your light and heavy artillery pods can one shot most UEDF mecha. Keep them alive and have them benefit Close Formation and from the Quel-Regult's Advanced Reconnaissance Suite. Do it right and they will have a +4 (2 GN + 1 CF, +1 ARS) to their dice rolls to hit with multiple missiles.

Grell: Khryon's second in command allows you to recycle destroyed pods that die while not in line of sight to the Glaug that Grell is piloting, so stick him in one of your Glaugs if you have 5 points to spare.

Pirion-Galarr: For 20 points a squadron that Pirion is a part of can automatically boost their speed once that turn without paying any command points or making piloting rolls allowing his squadron to move 15" per turn for free (5" SPD + Leap 5" + 5" boost). How is that useful you ask? It allows you to close the gap faster on nasty Phalanx and Monsters with their terrible blast weapons and allows you to get targets in crossfires faster. Ya Pirion is pricey, but worth it if used correctly and against specific targets.

Khyron: And finally there is Lord Khryon himself who comes with a +1 PIL (which help when he dodges) and the Backstabber ability. If you are running low on command points, Khyron can start blasting away at his own troops within 8" and gain +3 command points. Regults destroyed this way can not return as reinforcements, but the extra command points could come in useful if you need a cp to dodge or roll with impact. I feel it is most useful when you need to fire off a few more weapon systems to finish off that pesky Tomahawk squadron. Khryon is only 10 points and has his uses, but at a price.